We have lots of family birthdays including the birthdays of both of my girls. With school celebrations, family celebrations, and everything in between, this month can easily slip into the “sugar overload zone”.

It was a few years ago when I first started organizing two class trays of treats, two family parties, plus celebrating the day of their actual birthday that I quickly started feeling overwhelmed by the back-to-back-to back presence of cupcakes, brownies, birthday cake and then leftover birthday cake in our home.

Around this time I decided there had to be a better way… a healthier way.

Don’t get me wrong. Everyone here gets a birthday cake for their birthday. (I am not that mean.) However we try to remain mindful eaters, “birthday month” or not, and that is where many of these ideas can fit in.

Unique Ways to Celebrate Your Kid’s Birthday (Sugar-Free, too!)

1. Share a healthy (but fun!) snack.

There are so many ways you can make something simple that has lots of fresh, bright colors, and kids will love. Depending on your craftiness, you can really dress up your kid’s class treat or keep it fairly simple. Melon kabobs or fruit-filled butterflies are manageable choices but feel free to challenge yourself with some Pinterest inspiration if you are up for it!

2. Take a trip!

Whether it is an afternoon visit to someplace local or a weekend getaway to a nearby city, spoiling your birthday kid with experiences rather than a sugar overload is always worth it. My girls don’t need to go far, they simply LOVE the idea of staying overnight in a hotel with a pool and a breakfast buffet.

Try a bucket list item!

3.Try a bucket list item. Is your child adventurous? Or maybe trying to come out of his or her shell? Why not try something worthy of anyone’s bucket list!? Take a trapeze class, try snorkeling, go whale watching, try paddle boarding, go parasailing!

Get active!

4. Get active. Gather up the family or even some friends and get moving. Spend the afternoon bowling, rock climbing, playing laser tag, or racing each other through a local ninja obstacle course. Whatever you choose, you are sure to have a lot of laughs and an overall good time.

Go Camping!

5. Go camping. Want to really connect with your child and celebrate their special day? Unplug and head outdoors!

There are lots of ways to celebrate your child (without the sugar overload) and maybe your next celebration idea is listed above!

I know you might find this really difficult to believe (I did too.) but there has been a bit of magic taking place in my home. With this little bit of magic, some of the most remarkable things have happened and I absolutely had to share with you.

But first, a quick confession: I have been waiting to share this for fear of totally jinxing it. Yes, I was afraid that if I told you all it would bring this magic to a crashing halt. So I have been holding back until now.

However, at this point it has been a month and the magic is only getting stronger. So I am taking a chance.

Just the tiniest bit of background here: during our summer in Germany there were many amazing changes that I saw in my children that I was truly hoping I could see continue once the summer ended. I think that maybe I might have hoped and hoped and hoped so much that this magic was the result.

So here we are with magic alive and well in our home.

What it has done for my children has been nothing short of miraculous.

They read so much more, sometimes for more than an hour a day. Yea I know. I want to call me a "liar" too, but it is true. Our local area book trader LOVES us.

But there is other stuff too.

Big sister helping my youngest. Melts my heart every time.

They do puzzles, create games, make art, they write letters to friends and cousins.

They continue to dry the dishes after meals (something that they began doing this summer), they take out the compost, help cook, set the table, and clean up their toys.

We have family game nights, nights we color together and other nights where we are all just doing our own thing.

We talk. We talk about what we are reading, we talk about what we are writing in our journals, about school, about the world and about the future. We talk a lot. I feel like we have redefined "quality time" for ourselves in a really special way. It isn't something we have to carve out space for, quality time is a new constant.

This sort of magic might be normal in your house but it wasn't for us. Not like this.

Not until we turned off the TV. That is when the magic appeared and then it stayed.

During the month of September we have watched a total of 4 hours of TV.

4 HOURS.

We watched Hidden Figures because well, that was just pure awesomeness.

Then while my son had a sleep over with his cousin, the girls asked if they could watch some Smurf movie. Ok, sure.

That was it. And that, my friends, was MAGIC.

Planning a new journal page. The girl needs space.

Not only am I thrilled to pieces over the changes I see in my kids, and even my husband and myself, but it goes to show that when you want to see DIFFERENT RESULTS, you have to go about it in a DIFFERENT WAY. In order to see change, something in our day-to-day lives needed to change.

If you know you want something in your life to be DIFFERENT and BETTER, make your own magic. Decide what you can do to change that habit. It doesn't have to be something super extreme like eliminating TV from your life. (Although I highly recommend it!) . It just has to be enough to shake up the system a bit and create a different result. And if I can do it, believe me, you can too.

Whatever change you are thinking about making, we want to hear about it and we want to cheer you on. Check out our amazing community of moms who are also making magic! Come be a part of moms supporting moms while all we work on making healthy and happy living easier in The Real Moms Collaborative. You won't believe how much inspiration I get from this group and I am sure you will too.

Thank for reading! Now go make some magic!

Hey, Momma! I am Michelle. I am a busy mom of 3, a certified holistic health coach and owner of Real Moms, Real Health. I studied at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and I am Board Certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. In addition to giving workshops and lectures, I work with busy moms to find a healthy weight, have more energy and inspire health in their household. I have simple strategies that any mom can use to make healthy living EASY. Learn more about my programs by checking out my website. And don't forget to follow me on FACEBOOK, TWITTER OR INSTAGRAM.

One of the essentials to healthy living for you and your family is getting up and getting moving.

This is true for parents and true for kids.

But these don't need to be separate events. (Like maybe you go to the gym and your child heads to soccer practice or something like that...) In fact, one thing I absolutely love is being active together as a family. Whether it is hiking a new trail together or playing catch in the backyard, everything is always better when we are doing it together.

But....

...thanks to jam-packed schedules, after-school activities, work, work and more work, not to mention the amount of technology working against us, lots of moms find that staying active as a family is a challenge.

I want to help you work right through that.

I know you know WHY we should increase our activity level as a family:

Active kids will more likely grow into active adults.

Being active together adds to family time and bonding.

Exercise helps us clear our minds, reduces stress, and improves our mood. (Good for us AND good for kids!)

The more we move the easier it is to maintain a healthy weight.

Being active as a family is FUN!

I could go on but you get the point, right?

You know WHY! The problem is HOW!

It can be done!

Let's move our families off of the couch and out from behind those tech screens.

Let's get them into the backyard, onto local hiking trail or to the beach for a game of volleyball.

Let's shift from what is our current "normal" into a more active life.

Try this!

1. Shift Your Thinking.

If you decide that you want to be a more active family, see it, breathe it and then live it.

Accept this as your truth and embrace it!

Before I had children, I envisioned myself as a mom. I saw myself feeding my family healthy food. I saw us meditating. I saw us practicing yoga. I saw myself on runs with my kids. I saw us hiking. I saw us camping.

I could see it in my mind and I embraced that as my reality...BEFORE IT EVEN HAPPENED.

Even before I had my mini-humans in my life, I saw what I wanted our life to look like and it was almost like I could see the future becasue so much of what I pictured became reality.

Visualizing is an important first step. If you can't see it in your mind you don't know what you are working towards.

Once you envisioning it, it is so much easier to manifest.

2. Clear The Way

If your current lifestyle doesn't include time for family activity, clear the way. The time is there, I promise.

Say no. Postpone. Reschedule. PRIORITIZE.

Say YES to an early morning bike first. Then "ok, fine" to the chores and errands later.

Make plans to visit the beach, a zoo, a museum or a park. WRITE IT ON THE CALENDAR. (It makes it more real.)

Leave the dishes after dinner and head outside with a frisbee or a ball to toss. (The dishes don't mind waiting.)

Once you decide that you truly want to be more active and decide it will be so, you will find the time if you really, really, really promise to make it a priority.

3. Get Uncomfortable.

This step does NOT require that you get active, pull a muscle, then smile through the pain.

No.

All I mean by "get uncomfortable" is this: right now we all have some "comfortable" habits that we might be looking to change.

Maybe the kids leave the dinner table and grab their tablets.

Maybe you spend Sunday morning catching up on shows.

Maybe family time includes a game console and limited blinking.

These things have become comfortable parts of our lives.

You don't have to have a big plan. Just get up, get moving and see what adventures await!

To get "uncomfortable" means to do something a little unfamiliar, something that isn't yet our norm and to avoid leaning back into our comfortable, not-so-active habits.

When you feel yourself cozying up to a comfortable old habit that you are trying to change, catch yourself.

If you catch yourself about to say the usual, "Let's stay in and watch movies," SHAKE IT OFF and remember that you are a more active family now. Go on family walk after dinner.

You will thank yourself later.

Let's keep this conversation going!

I want to invite you to join our online community of moms supporting moms called

We are building healthier lives for ourselves and our families one step at a time!

See you there!

Michelle and crew!

Hey, Momma! I am Michelle. I am a busy mom of 3, a certified holisitc health coach and owner of Real Moms, Real Health. I studied at the Institute of Integratvie Nutrition and I am Board Certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. In addition to giving workshops and lectures, I work with busy moms to find a healthy weight, have more energy and inspire health in their household. I have simple strategies that any mom can use to make healthy living EASY. Learn more about my programs by checking out my website. And don't forget to follow me on FACEBOOK, TWITTER OR INSTAGRAM.